Man pleads not guilty in the hanging death of a Mississippi woman

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — A man charged with murder in the hanging of a Black woman in Mississippi pleaded not guilty Monday during his first court appearance.

The body of Tasia Fortune , 29, was found hanging from a tree behind an abandoned home in the capital, Jackson, on Aug. 3.

On Friday, police arrested 51-year-old Jarques Ratliff , who is also Black, on a murder charge after the state medical examiner deemed her death a homicide.

During the brief hearing Monday in Municipal Court, the judge denied bond for Ratliff, who told the court he's not guilty. Ratliff's attorney at the hearing left the courthouse afterward without speaking to reporters.

EDITOR’S NOTE: This story includes discussion of suicide. If you or someone you know needs help, the national suicide and crisis lifeline in the U.S. is available by calling or texting 988.

The case has attracted widespread attention because the nature of Fortune's death recalled lynchings in the Southern state, which has a tumultuous civil rights history stained by episodes of racial violence.

Police and prosecutors haven't given a suspected motive for the killing or said whether they think race played any role.

Police Chief RaShall Brackney said Friday that Ratliff, 51, had an “association” with Fortune, but she didn't elaborate. She also said that additional arrests are expected in the case.

A Kentucky native, Fortune had been living in Jackson for about a decade, according to relatives. Her mother, Christy Spivey, said Fortune had four children but rarely saw two of them.

Spivey wasn’t sure where Fortune was living when she died, but she said her daughter had struggled with homelessness in recent years. She said Fortune had talked recently about starting a cleaning business and was trying to get her life in order.

Two other Mississippi hanging deaths over the past year — those of a Black student at Delta State University and a homeless white man in Vicksburg — also drew widespread attention, but both were deemed to be suicides.